Process and device for the manufacture of punched sheets



Nov; 22, 1966 v. v. PERNAS ETAL 3,286,564

PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PUNCHED SHEETS Filed April 24, 1964 {5 Sheets-Sheet l v /81 o o B: Q 84 A J l 91 89 I E 8 k 80 o 0 I'NVENTORS VICTOR VID/ELLH PERNHS MIGUEL CORTES \nReos B72 WWW M W N 1955 v. v. PERNAS ETAL PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PUNCHED SHEETS I 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 24, 1964 Fig. 2

INVENTDRS 5 [VICTOR vzglgLLn PERNB MIGUEL COR/[:5 vlReos Nov. 22, 1966 v. v. PERNAS ETAL 3,286,564

PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PUNCHED SHEETS Filed April 24, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS VICTOR V/D/ELLH PER/VHS MIGUEL CORTES VIR605 BY MM 0/14 00 W United States Patent 3,286,564 PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR THE MANU- FACTURE 0F PUNCHED SHEETS Victor Vidiella Pernas, General Primo de Rivera 105, and Miguel Cortes Virgos, Santa Maria 109, both of Badalona. Spain Filed Apr. 24, 1964, Ser. No. 362,512 Claims priority, application Spain, May 4, 1963, 287,695 9 Claims. (Cl. 8324) The present invention relates to a process for the manufacture of cards or sheets of paper, cardboard, Bristol board or the like, punched with holes having any fiat geometrical form, and to a device for the carrying out of the said process.

At present, punched cards are made by the following process: printing of cardboard sheets, cutting out of the printed sheets and punching of single cards in an eccentric press. Said process, which is quick in its printing and cutting stages, is exceedingly slow in the punching stage, which results in said cards being of a high, generally prohibitive, cost.

On the other hand, the card punching operation, which as a rule consists in cutting out several series of holes near the four edges of the card, while the central portion is left for writing purposes, is carried out by means of punches operated by means of an eccentric press; the cuttings resulting from the punching operation move forward within the cylindrical bore of each punch a distance equal to the sheet thickness, at each punching operation. However, the accumulation of cuttings causes cloggings which result in an imperfect punching operation and require tedious clearing operations; furthermore, the cuttings or waste must be withdrawn from the machine and collected from the floor.

In order to avoid such drawbacks, a process has been designed for the manufacture of cards or sheets of paper, cardboard, Bristol board or the like, punched with holes of any geometrical form, which consists of punching the cards by means of a mold or jig provided with punches, characterised by the fact that the punching is effected on a punching mold or jig having a cavity underneath adapted to receive the punching waste, and that air under pressure is propelled at intervals inwardly from the periphery of said cavity with the exception of an open zone of the periphery, said air under pressure expelling the punching waste through said open zone.

The process according to the invention can be performed by means of an eccentric press or any other machine or apparatus which can be used in the punching of cards or sheets, but it is preferably per-formed by placing the mold on the bed-plate of a roller punching machine, and the propulsion of air under pressure from the periphery of the lower cavity is carried out in that part of the bed-plate travel farthest from the roller during the back-and-forth movement thereof, and preferably at each movement of said bed-plate. Preferably, said propulsion of air under pressure is effected synchronously with the bed-plate movement and in an automatic way.

The punching is preferably made on blank sheets which have already been printed and which include several card or sheet forms, which can be identical or different from one another in shape, size and/or rows of holes, and the cutting into single cards or sheets can be effected simultaneously with, or after, the punching operation. An efficient way of putting into practice the process according to the invention is by means of a train of roller machines comprising a printing machine, a punching machine and a cutting-out machine; this last can be omitted if the punching and cutting-out operations are carried out simultaneously.

In order to put the process 'of the invention into practice, a device has been designed which is characterised by the fact that the lower cavity receiving the punching Waste is defined by a metal sheet constituting the punching mold or jig, by the supporting means of the mold and by a bed-plate of the machine to which the mold isair under pressure to be discharged or jetted through said holes, said air under pressure expelling the punching waste from said cavity through said open zone.

When a roller punching machine is used, the mold is mounted on the bed-plate thereof, which has a back-andforth movement, the ducts of said air-propelling means comprise telescopic elements adapted to permit the movement of said bed-plate, and said actuating means are operated in that part of the bed-plate travel farthest from the roller by means of operating means movable with said bed-plate. e

The punches have preferably an axial through passage, the diameter of which at the punching outlet or cutting end of the punch is smaller than the diameter at the opposite outlet opening into the lower cavity, so that the punching waste can easily fall down to said cavity to be expelled by means of the air under pressure.

The punching waste can be easily collected in a waste receptacle of any conventional shape, which can be rigid or can have at least one flexible portion near its inlet, said inlet portion being then fixed to the waste outlet in any conventional way.

The invention will now be described with reference to an embodiment of the punching device as applied to a roller punching machine.

FIGURE 1 shows diagrammatically a train of roller machines comprising a printing machine, a punching machine and a cutting-out machine, the second of which has been provided with a device according to the invention.

FIGURE 2 shows a perspective view of the back portion of the roller punching machine carrying the punching device according to the invention, the bed-plate being in its extreme backward position.

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic plan view of the airpronelling means of the device shown in FIG. 1.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged partial view of FIG. 2.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of FIG. 3, with the bed-plate in a position near the back portion of its travel, but not in it.

FIGURE 6 is a view, partially in section, showing an enlarged detail of FIG. 3.

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the punching mold or jig taken from below.

FIGURE 8 shows diagrammatically a section of a punch according to the invention.

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of a receptacle for receiving the punching waste.

The train of roller machines shown in FIG. 1 comprises a printing machine 1, a punching machine 2 and a cuttingout machine 3.

Blank sheets 4, made of Bristol board, cardboard, paper or the like, having any suitable size and thickness (for example, Bristol board of a standard DIN size can be used), go into the printing machine 1, having a bed-plate 5, a printing mold 6 and a roller 7, and they come out therefrom as printed composite sheets 8, of the same size as the blank sheet-s, in which a plurality of single cards or other single sheets have been printed.

Subsequently, the printed composite sheets 8 pass on to the punching machine 2, having a bed-plate 9, a punch- Patented Nov. 22, 1966- ing mold and a roller 11, from which they come out in the form of punched printed composite sheets 12, still of the same size as the blank sheets, in which the holes have been made according to the patterns of the cards to be obtained.

Finally, the punched printed composite sheets 12 pass on to the cutting-out machine 3, having a bed-plate 13, a cutting mold 14 and a roller 15, from which they come out in the form of single punched cards 16, having a size which is a submultiple of that of the sheets 4, 8 and 12.

In the punching machine 2, air-propelling means 17 have been provided, said means being actuated by suitable actuating means 18.

In FIG. 2 (and partially in FIGS. 4 and 5) is shown the rear part of the machine 2 on which the device according to the invention is mounted. The machine -2 is of a known type, and has a frame 19 with two backwardly projecting arms 20 and 21 and a top bridge 22, a continuously rotating punching roller 11 and a bed-plate 9 which alternately moves forward to a punching position underneath the roller 11 and backward to a position away from the said roller 11. The construction of this kind of machine is known and is not described in detail because it does not concern the invention, which could also be applied to another type of machine.

The device according to the invention consists of three main parts: a punching mold 10, air-propelling means 17 and actuating means 18 for said air-propelling means.

The mold 10, shown in perspective from below in FIG. 7, comprises a metal sheet 30, provided with supporting means consisting of two side walls 31 and 32 and a pierced front block 33, which define, together with said plate and the bed-plate 9 on which it is mounted, a cavity 34, which has a rear opening 34a. Projections 35, 36 and 37, having a length equal to the height of side walls 31 and 32 and front block 33, project from plate 30. Projections 35, 36 and 37, and block 33, can be screwed or otherwise fixed to the plate 38. The corner projections 37 have an inner angular passage having two threaded outlets. In the periphery of cavity 34 is a peripheral duct 38, which, in the embodiment shown, consists of three tube lengths 39, 40 and 41 having threaded ends. Tube length 40 includes two sections each having one end screwed into the front block 33 and the other end screwed into the side outlet of a respective corner projection 37. The forward ends of tube lengths 39 and 41 are screwed into the other outlets of the respective corner projections, and the rearward ends of tube lengths 39 and 41 extend outwardly of cavity 34 as indicated at 42 and 43. Tube lengths 39, 40 and 41 have inwardly directed holes 44, which are the only outlets of the peripheral duct 38. The plate 30 has, on its rear edge 3011, two recesses 45 and 46 having sloping bottoms. The plate 30 has a plurality of holes, preferably threaded, to which the corresponding punches 23 are screwed or otherwise secured, said punches projecting from the upper surface of the plate 30 and doing the punching work on the sheets of paper, cardboard, Bristol board or the like. For claritys sake a mold or jig has been shown which is adapted to punch at the same time four cards having a row of peripheral holes each, but it is obvious that molds can be manufactured of the most varied types as far as the number, size and shape of the cards and the number of rows of holes are concerned.

Each of the punches 23 (FIGURE 8), has a diameter d at its upper outlet which is shorter than the diameter D at its lower outlet, which results in a tapered passage 24, in which the punching waste cannot clog, since, as shown in the ease of the illustrated cutting 25, the cuttings have a smaller diameter than the passage 24 and fall down to the cavity 34. Such punches have an upper sharp edge 26, whereas the opposite edge 27 is threaded, or otherwise designed, to be fixed to the plate 30.

A waste receptacle 47 (FIG. 9) is placed on the floor at the rear part of the machine and between the end portions 42 and 43 of the tube lengths 39 and 41 so that, in the extreme backward posit-ion of the bed-plate 9, the rear opening 34a of the cavity 34 is placed before the receptacle opening 47a, which is provided with grooves 48 and 49 at its upper portion. The receptacle shown is rigid and can be made of wood, plastic material, or metal. On the other hand, the receptacle can have its upper portion in the form of a fiexible bag fixed by its edges to the opening 34a.

The mold 119 is fixed to the bed-plate 9 (FIGS. 4 and 5) by means of a screw 50, which passes through a threaded hole provided in the angular projection 51, which is solidly connected to the bed-plate, 9, and by means of a block 52 having a sloping front end which is received in the recesses 45 and 46 having a sloping bottom. The block 52 which is received in the recess 46 has, fixed to it, operating means comprising a part 53 having an arm 54 with two curved ends 55 and 56. By its other end, the wall 9a (FIG. 1) of the bed-plate holds the mold 10 by its end opposite the edge 30a.

The air-propelling means 17 comprises a compressor 60 with its corresponding motor 61. A duct 62 leads from the compressor 60 and divides into two front ducts 63 and 64 having thicker front portions 65 and 66 adapted to be held by clamps 67 and 69 having bolt-and-nut assembling means 68. The clamp 67 is fixed to the upper end of a fiat supporting arm 70 which is screwed to the machine frame 19 at a folded end 71 by means of screws 72. The clamp 69 is mounted similarly. Telescoping tubes 73 and 74 are inserted in the ducts 63 and 64, said telescoping tubes being capable of moving therein a distance at least equal to the travel of the bed-plate 9 in its back-and-forth movement; said telescoping tubes 73 and 74 are screwed to the threaded end portions 42 and 43 of the tube lengths 39 and 41, so that on the bed-plate 9 moving forward and backward the telescoping tubes 73 and 74 move simultaneously therewith within the front ducts 63 and 64, respectively, without the peripheral duct 38 being disconnected from the air-propelling means 17.

The actuating means 18 of said air-propelling means 17 comprises a switch 75 connected through conductors 76 and 77 to an electric valve 78 which controls the passage of the air suplied by the air-propelling means 17 to the duct 62 and, consequently, to the peripheral duct 38. Said switch 75 is mounted on a support 79 which is mounted on the supporting arm 70. In its front portion the switch 75 has a flexible cap 80 and a supporting arm 81 having an end 82 projecting at right angles and ending with a bent end 83. A pivoted arm 84 is pivotable around a pin 85 and has a semicylindrical stud 86 which abuts against end 83 and limits the angular movement of the arm 84. At its outer end, the arm 84 carries a caster or roller 87, which can freely turn on pin 88. When a pressure is exerted on caster 87 in the direction of arrow F (FIG. 6), said caster 87 turns and, at the same time, the arm 84 pivots around pin 85 and, through projection 89, presses on flexible cap 80 and pushes the rod 90 of the switch 75 down. Said rod 90, through curved arms 93 reverses the curvature of tongue 94 and causes the ends thereof, which carry contact terminals 91, to rise and, therefore, touch contact terminals 92, thus closing the circuit. When the pressure on cap 80 ceases, said cap returns to its normal position by the action of inner resilient means (not shown) and the contact terminals 91 and 92 move away again, thus opening the circuit. Any other suitable switch could be used.

Operation of the device is very simple. While the bed-plate 9 of the machine 2 is in its punching position underneath the roller 7, the electric valve 78 is closed and the compressed air does not fiow from compressor 60 to duct 62. When the punching operation has been carried out, the cutting 25 (waste) of Bristol board, cardtravel, the arm 54 is not in touch with the caster 87 (FIG. 5) and the switch 75 is in the position shown in FIG. 6, with the stud 86 abutting against the end 83.

During that part of the bed-plate travel farthest from the roller, the arm 54 of the operating means of switch 75 engages, by its end 55, the caster 87 (position shown in FIGS. 2 and 4), the contact terminals 91 and 92 come into contact with one another and the electric valve 78 is energized and thus opened. When electric valve 78 is open, the compressor 60 propels air under pressure through ducts 62, 63, 64, 73, 74, 39, 40 and 41, said air under pressure jetting through the inwardly directed holes 44. The air propelled from the periphery of cavity 34 pushes the punching waste towards the only free outlet 34a (FIGS. 2 and 5), from which said Waste falls into receptacle 47 through the opening 47a which is placed immediately behind said opening 34a, with projections 51 within grooves 48 and 49. The operation is repeated at each movement of the bed-plate 9. A hand switch can be provided (not shown) in order to cut the circuit when desired, particularly on the machine being stopped.

The relative position of the arm 54 and the caster 87 is set so that, during the part of the travel of the bedplate 9 (and, therefore, of arm 54) farthest from the roller, said caster rides on said arm 54, without reaching the curved portion 56. Thus, the air-propelling means sends air under pressure to the lower cavity 34 while the caster 87 is pressed by arm 54, i.e. during the last portion of the bed-plate backward travel and during the initial portion of the bed-plate forward travel. Since the bedplate 9 has a continuous back-and-forth movement, the period during which the circuit connected to the electric valve 78 is energized, and, consequently, the period during which air under pressure is propelled through holes 44, will be short and will depend on the length of arm 54: it will be equal to the duration of the back-and-forth movement from the position shown in FIG. 5 to that shown in FIG. 4.

If the operations of punching and cutting the cards or sheets are carried out simultaneously, the mold 10 is provided with cutting edges 95, shown in FIG. 7 with dotted lines.

What we claim is:

1. In the manufacture of punched sheets of paper, cardboard, Bristol board, and the like, the novel method comprising the steps of: providing a sheet supporting jig having a surface mounting tubular punches projecting upwardly therefrom and opening at their lower ends through such surface; supporting the sheets on the upper ends of the tubular punches; moving the jig with the sheets thereon to a punching station; at the punching station, forcing the sheets downwardly over the punches to punch holes through the sheets with the waste punchings falling through the tubular punches; receiving the waste punchings in a cavity beneath such surface and closed except for a discharge aperture; retracting the jig from the punching station toward a waste discharge station; during such retraction, directing air under pressure into the cavity in a direction away from the punching station and toward the discharge aperture to sweep the waste punchings outwardly through the discharge aperture; and receiving the discharged waste punchings in a container adjacent that end of the jig further from the punching station and having an inlet communicating with the discharge opening.

2. The method claimed in claim 1 in which the air under pressure is directed into the cavity inwardly from the periphery thereof.

3. The method claimed in claim 1 including the step of initiating the supply of air under pressure through the cavity responsive to the jig reaching a predetermined position during such retraction from the punch station.

4. The method claimed in claim 1 in which the sheets are punched in a roller-type punching machine including a bed-plate reciprocable toward and away from the roller between a punching station adjacent the roller and a discharge position remote from the roller; and mounting the jig on the bed-plate in such a manner that the cavity is formed conjointly by the jig and the bed-plate.

5. A device for the manufacture of sheets of paper, cardboard, Bristol board and the like, punched with holes of any geometrical form, adapted to be mounted on the bed-plate of a punching machine, comprising: a punching mold, said punching mold comprising a punching plate, supporting means adapted to support said punching plate on said bed-plate, said plate defining together with said supporting means and said bed-plate a cavity adapted to receive the punching waste, a peripheral duct provided in said cavity with the exception of a free zone, said duct having inwardly directed holes, air-propelling means connected to said duct, actuating means for said air-propelling means and operating means for said actuating means adapted to operate at intervals said actuating means.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5, in which said punching mold is mounted on the bed-plate of a roller punching machine, said bed-plate having a continuous back-andforth movement, said air-propelling means being connected to said peripheral duct by means of telescoping elements adapted to permit the movement of the said bedplate, and said actuating means being operated during that part of the bed-plate travel farthest from the roller by means of operating means movable with said bed-plate.

7. A device as claimed in claim 5, in which the punches have an axial through passage, the diameter of which at the punching outlet is smaller than the diameter at the opposite outlet opening on the lower cavity.

8. A device as claimed in claim 5, in which a waste receptacle adapted to receive the punching waste is provided near the said free edge.

9. A device for the manufacture of sheets of paper, cardboard, Bristol board and the like, punched with holes of any geometrical form, adapted to be mounted on the bed-plate of a roller punching machine having a back-andforth movement, comprising: a punching mold, said punching mold comprising a punching plate and a plurality of punches detachably fixed to said punching plate, said punches having an axial through passage, the diameter of which at the punching outlet is smaller than the diameter at the opposite outlet, supporting means adapted to support said punching plate on said bed-plate, said plate defining together with said supporting means and said bed-plate a cavity adapted to receive the punching waste, a peripheral duct surrounding said cavity with the exception of a free zone, said duct having inwardly directed holes, air-propelling means connected to said duct by means of telescoping elements adapted to permit the movement of said bed-plate, actuating means for said air-propelling means and operating means for said actuating means adapted to operate said actuating means during that part of the bed-plate travel farthest from the roller by means of operating means movable with said bed-plate.

ANDREW R. JUHASZ, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PUNCHED SHEETS OF PAPER, CARDBOARD, BRISTOL BOARD, AND THE LIKE, THE NOVEL METHOD COMPRISING THE STEPS OF: PROVIDING A SHEET SUPPORTING JIG HAVING A SURFACE MOUNTING TUBULAR PUNCHES PROJECTING UPWARDLY THEREFROM AND OPENING AT THEIR LOWER ENDS THROUGH SUCH SURFACE; SUPPORTING THE SHEETS ON THE UPPER ENDS OF THE TUBULAR PUNCHES; MOVING THE JIG WITH THE SHEETS THEREON TO A PUNCHING STATION; AT THE PUNCHING STATION, FORCING THE SHEETS DOWNWARDLY OVER THE PUNCHES TO PUNCH HOLES THROUGH THE SHEETS WITH THE WASTE PUNCHINGS FALLING THROUGH THE TUBULAR PUNCHES; RECEIVING THE WASTER PUNCHINGS IN A CAVITY BENEATH SUCH SURFACE AND CLOSED EXCEPT FOR A DISCHARGE APERTURE; RETRACTING THE JIG FROM THE PUNCHING STATION TOWARD A WASTE DISCHARGE STATION; DURING SUCH RETRACTION, DIRECTING AIR UNDER PERSSURE INTO THE CAVITY IN A DIRECTION AWAY FROM THE PUNCHING STATION AND TOWARD THE DISCHARGE APERTURE TO SWEEP THE WASTE PUNCHINGS OUTWARDLY THROUGH THE DISCHARGE APERTURE; AND RECEIVING THE DISCHARGED WASTE PUNCHINGS IN A CONTAINER ADJACENT THAT END OF THE JIG FURTHER FROM THE PUNCHING STATION AND HAVING AN INLET COMMUNICATING WITH THE DISCHARGE OPENING. 